16 Years of Salary Without Work: How a Teacher Cheated the System

In Germany, a teacher from Wesel received a full salary for 16 years while on sick leave. Prosecutors suspect her of fraud: she allegedly falsified diagnoses and worked as a naturopath. The woman appealed her retirement, and the scandal coincided with a sick leave reform.

A scandal has erupted in Germany over a teacher from the city of Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia) who received a full salary for 16 years while on sick leave. Since 2009, she had been listed as sick due to a claimed mental illness, and throughout this time, officials paid her full wages. In 2026, an insurance doctor deemed her return to work impossible, and the district government of Düsseldorf sent her into retirement. However, the woman appealed this decision in an administrative court, unwilling to lose income. The Duisburg public prosecutor's office opened a criminal case on suspicion of fraud: investigators believe she falsified diagnoses and simultaneously worked as a naturopath. Her home was searched, and digital media and documents were seized. The criminal review covers the last four years, as the statute of limitations has expired for other episodes. A disciplinary investigation has also been initiated against an official who ignored mandatory medical examinations. The region's education minister, Dorothe Feller, called the incident 'absolutely unacceptable and incomprehensible in its scale.' The scandal coincided with a healthcare reform initiated by Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government, which abolishes remote sick leave certification by phone.